Container body having reinforcing bead with rib

ABSTRACT

A tubular container body has a reinforcing bead indented into and circumscribing the container body wall. A plurality of generally longitudinal ribs are formed in the container body wall within the bead indentation. The ribs are formed during formation of the bead by providing a plurality of forming elements which are advanced radially inwardly to engage and indent a portion of the container body wall which defines the bead. Adjacent forming elements, in the fully advanced position of the latter, define indentations in which the aforesaid ribs are formed.

United States Patent Mansolino Mar. 14, 1972 [54] CONTAINER BODY HAVINGREINFORCING BEAD WITH RIB [72] Inventor: Daniel Joseph Mansolino,Comwell Heights, Pa

[73] Assignee: American Can Company, New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Apr. 9, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 26,852

[52] U.S. Cl ..220/72 [51] ..B65d 7/42 [58] Field of Search ..220/72, 74

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,335,260 1 1/1943Chamberlain ..220/74 829,477 8/1906 .Kruse ....220/72 X 2,870,981 l/l959Dellinger et al ..220/72 X 3,335,902 8/1967 Javorik ..220/72 FORElGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 754,549 8/1956 Great Britain ..220/72 PrimaryExaminer-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-James R. GarrettAttorney-Robert P. Auber, George P. Ziehmer and Leonard R. Kohan [5 7]ABSTRACT A tubular container body has a reinforcing bead indented intoand circumscribing the container body wall. A plurality of generallylongitudinal ribs are formed in the container body wall within the beadindentation. The ribs are formed during formation of the bead byproviding a plurality of forming elements which are advanced radiallyinwardly to engage and indent a portion of the container body wall whichdefines the bead. Adjacent forming elements, in the fully advancedposition of the latter, define indentations in which the aforesaid ribsare formed.

1 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEUMAR 14 I972 3,54

42 40 46 F G 6 Y INVENTOR DANEL JOSEPH MANSOLJNO ATTORNEY CONTAINER BODYHAVING REINFORCING BEAD WITH RIB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to containers and more particular to a tubularcontainer body in which a reinforcing bead is provided with generallylongitudinal ribs.

I-Ieretofore, metal container bodies have been made with an indented,circumscribing reinforcing bead. For example, a reinforcing bead may beused adjacent a doubleseam by which an end closure is secured to acontainer body and in which the end closure has a pull tab and scoreline to provide a full-open and easy-open feature. While such containerbodies have been satisfactory, it would be desirable to improve thestructure of such container bodies in order to reduce the thickness ofstrength requirements of the metal plate from which the container bodyis made. The present invention effects the aforesaid desirableimprovement by providing an improved container body structure, and moreparticularly, a structure which includes a plurality of strengtheningribs in the bead.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a tubularcontainer body which has a greater longitudinal crush strength and whichmay be made from a thinner metal material.

Another object is to provide, in a tubular container body of the typehaving a circumscribing reinforcing bead, a plurality of longitudinalribs to strengthen the bead.

Another object is to provide, in a tubular container body of the typehaving a reinforcing bead, a plurality of circumferentially spaced ribswithin the bead indentation.

A further object is to provide a method and apparatus for making acontainer body having an indented, circumscribing bead in which aplurality of longitudinal ribs are disposed.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas is better understood from the following description, which, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A tubular container body has a reinforcing beadindented into and circumscribing the body wall. A plurality of generallylongitudinal ribs are formed in the body wall within the beadindentation. The ribs are formed during formation of the bead bydisplacing a plurality of backup support elements radially outwardly tocontact the inner wall of the tubular body, providing a plurality offorming segments having leading faces in the configuration of a segmentof a circle, advancing circumferential central portions of said leadingfaces of each segment radially inwardly to engage the outside of thecontainer body along circumferential sections of the latter to formsections of a bead in the container body, and simultaneously advancingcircumferential end portions of said leading faces of the segmentsradially inwardly less than the advancement of said central portions,whereby the end portions of adjacent leading faces are operable to formthe ribs in said bead. Adjacent forming elements, in the fully advancedposition of the latter, define indentations in which the ribs areformed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective view of acontainer body having a reinforcing bead with ribs according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of oneof the ribs shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along a diametrical planeof apparatus for forming the reinforcing bead and ribs shown in FIG. 1but showing the position of the parts just before the bead and ribs areformed.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along theline 55 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but showing theposition of the parts just after the reinforcing bead and ribs have beenformed.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but showing theposition of the parts as in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings whichillustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, FIG. 1 shows acontainer body 10 having upper and lower flanges 12, 14 respectivelyeach adapted to be incorporated in a doubleseam used in securing anupper and lower end closure (not shown) to the container body 10. Thecontainer body 10 has a reinforcing bead 16 indented into andcircumscribing the body 10. The bead I6 has a generally arcuatecross-sectional configuration and serves to reinforce the container body10 and to strengthen the container ultimately made from the containerbody.

As can be-seen in FIG. I, the bead 16 is provided with a plurality ofspaced ribs 18 which extend generally parallel to the longitudinal axisof the container body 10. The ribs 18 strengthen the bead 16particularly against vertical crush such that it is possible to make thecontainer body 10 out of a thinner metal plate as compared to a similarcontainer body not having ribs.

As can best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ribs 18 extend externally ofthe container body and protrude from the portion of the body wall whichdefines the reinforcing bead 16. In the illustrated embodiment, each rib18 extends only partially into the bead l6 and the rib 18 itself has agenerally arcuate configuration (see FIG. 3) considered along alongitudinal plane which bisects the rib 18.

Apparatus for forming the reinforcing bead I6 and ribs 18 is shown inFIGS. 4 to 7 and comprises a frame 20 on which a plurality of formingsegments 22 are mounted for reciprocal movement in a radial directionrelative to the container body 10. In the illustrated embodiment foursegments 22 are utilized in forming the four ribs 18 shown in FIG. 1,each rib 18 being formed between adjacent segments 22 as will bedescribed, but only parts of two segments 22 are shown in the drawings.

Each forming segment 22 is mounted on its own slide element 24, thelatter in turn being slidably mounted on the frame 20. Thus in FIG. 4,the forming segment 22 is shown disposed on a spacer 26 and suitablysecured to the slide element 24 by the threaded bolt 28. Each segment 22is in the form of a generally flat plate having a leading face 30 havingan arcuate cross-sectional configuration (see FIGS. 4 and 5) conforminggenerally to the cross-sectional configuration of the desired bead 16.As can best be seen in FIGS. 5 and 7 the leading face 30 also extendsalong an arc of a circle and the sides 32 of each segment convergetowards the centerline of the container body 10.

Each of the four slide elements 24 are slidable in a radial directionfrom the open position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 to the closed positionshown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The forming segments 22 are spaced from oneanother when they are in the open position (FIG. 5) but abut one anotherwhen in the closed position (FIG. 7). However, the comers of eachsegment 22, where the leading face 30 joinsthe side walls 32, areslightly rounded as indicated at 34 in order to form the ribs 18 as willbe described in greater detail.

As can best be seen in FIG. 4, the upper end of the container body 10 issupported on its inner peripheral surface by a downwardly depending ring36 forming part of a generally circular gauge plate 38 fixed to theframe 20. The outer diameter of ring 36 is substantially equal to theinner diameter of the can body 10. The gauge plate 38 also includes acircular groove 40 adapted to receive the container body flange l2 andthe upper end of the container body. The bottom surface 42 of groove 40serves as a stop for the container body 10 as the latter is positionedin the apparatus, thereby predetermining the position of the body 10relative to the operating parts of the apparatus.

The fixed circular gauge plate 38 has a central opening 44 in which arod 46 is mounted for reciprocal movement between a lowered position(FIG. 4) and a raised position (FIG. The lower end of rod 46 has fixedthereto an enlarged end member 48 having a frustoconical peripheralsurface 50. A bottom plate 52 is spaced from the gauge plate 38 andfixed to the latter in spaced relationship by a plurality of spacerbushings 55 and threaded members 56, only one each of the latter beingshown in the drawings. The frustoconical member 48 has an opening toslidably receive the bushing 55 and the longitudinal ends of the bushing54 abut the gauge plate 38 and the bottom plate 52 thereby topredetermine the distance between said plates 38, 52. The threadedmember 56 extends between the two plates 38, 52 and through the bushings55 to hold the latter in place and to securely hold the bottom plate 52in the aforesaid spaced position relative to the gauge plate 38.

Slidably mounted between the two spaced plates 38, 52 are a plurality ofwedge-shaped slides 54. The slides 54 have a frustoconical surface 57abutting the frustoconical surface 50 on member 48. Each slide 54 has anarcuate channel 58 therein adapted to accommodate a section of a biasingmeans in the form of a coil spring 60 formed into a closed loop. It willbe apparent from the drawings that the spring 60 will urge the slides 54radially inwardly to the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 but that whenthe frustoconical member 48 is raised from its FIG. 6 to its FIG. 5position, the wedging action between the abutting frustoconical surfaces50, 57 will move the slides 54 radially outwardly against the bias ofspring 60.

The upper portion of each slide 54 above the groove 58 is disposedradially inwardly of the downwardly depending ring 36 and thus is notadapted to contact the container body 10. The lower portion of eachslide 54 on the other hand extends further radially outwardly and isadapted to contact and define a backup support for the inside of thecontainer body during the forming operation. The backup portion isdefined by a leading circular face 62 on each slide 54.

It will be observed that the previously described forming segments 22are disposed laterally opposite the ring 36 on gauge plate 38 and alsoopposite groove 58 and the upper portion of leading faces 62 on each ofthe slides 54 when the latter are in the FIG. 6 position. Further, thebottom of ring 36 and the upper part of leading face 62 on slide 54 arespaced from one another, the aforesaid space being disposed generallylaterally opposite the leading face 30 of forming segment 22 when theslide is in the FIG. 6 position.

To effect formation of the bead 16, the lower outer peripheral surfaceof ring 36 is chamfered and may have a slightly rounded configuration todefine a backup surface 64 for the upper part of the bead 16 as thelatter is formed. Similarly, the comer between the leading face 62 andthe bottom of groove 58 is rounded as indicated at 66 to form a backupsupport for the lower part of the bead 16 as the latter is formed.

In operation, the various parts are initially disposed as shown in FIGS.4 and 5 and the container body is raised longitudinally into position toabut the surface 42 in groove 40 and to circumscribe the ring 36. Therod 46 is raised thereby causing the plurality of slides 54 to shiftradially outwardly against the bias of spring 60 to abut the innerperipheral surface of the container body 10. Thereafter, the formingsegments 22 are shifted radially inwardly whereby the leading face 30 ofeach forming segment 22 engages the outer periphery of the containerbody 10 and indents the latter to form the bead 16. As the bead 16 isformed as aforesaid, the ring 36 and slides 54 serve as a backup supportfor the container body in that the outer periphery of ring 36 and theleading circular face 62 of each slide 54 contacts the inner surface ofthe container body above and below the advancing forming segments 22.Further, the chamfered or rounded surface 64 on ring 36 and the roundedsurface 66 on the segments are disposed generally radially inwardly ofthe general cylindrical configuration of the container body to serve asa backup support for the upper and lower parts of the head 16 as thelatter is formed.

As previously described the forming segments 22 are provided withrounded corners 34 to effect formation of the ribs 18. In this regard,the forming segments 22 each have a configuration, in plan view (FIG.5), conforming to a segment ofa circle. In the illustrated embodimentfour segments 22 are used. The segments 22 are sized so that when theconverging sides 32 abut one another, the leading faces 30 form a circleequal to the outer diameter of the container bead 16. As previouslydescribed, the circle formed by the leading faces 30 of the segments 22is interrupted by relatively small indentations formed between adjacentsegments 22 by adjoining rounded comers 34. Thus when the plurality offorming segments 22 are slid radially inwardly from their FIG. 4 totheir FIG. 6 position to form the bead 16, the ribs 18 aresimultaneously formed in the aforesaid indentations defined by adjoiningsurfaces 34. During formation of the bead 16 and ribs 18 the metal ofthe container body is pushed radially inwardly against the ring 36 andslide 54 by the forming segments 22 except within the area of theindentations defined by the adjoining surfaces 34.

Although four ribs 18 are shown in the illustrated embodiment,additional ribs may be formed by utilizing additional forming segments.For example, if it is desired to form six ribs 18, six forming segmentssubtending an angle of 60 each may be employed.

As may be desired the particular configuration of the surface 64 on ring36, the surface 66 on the slides 54 and the comer 34 on forming segments22 may be varied as desired depending on various factors such as thephysical, dimensional, and structural characteristics of the containerbody.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts and that changes may be made in the form,construction, and arrangement of the apparatus described and in thesteps of the method described and their order of accomplishment withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing allof its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merelya preferred embodiment thereof.

What is claimed is:

I. A container body adapted to have end closures secured thereto to forma closed container, comprising:

a tubular body member;

a reinforcing bead formed in said body member, said bead being indentedinto said member and circumscribing the latter; and

a plurality of ribs formed in said body member in the portion of thelatter defining said bead, said ribs extending generally longitudinallyof said body member and protruding radially outwardly from the portionof the body member defining said bead, each of said ribs having agenerally arcuate configuration along a plane extending longitudinallyand radially of the body member and longitudinally bisecting each ofsaid ribs, said ribs being totally included within the bead indentation.

1. A container body adapted to have end closures secured thereto to forma closed container, comprising: a tubular body member; a reinforcingbead formed in said body member, said bead being indented into saidmember and circumscribing the Latter; and a plurality of ribs formed insaid body member in the portion of the latter defining said bead, saidribs extending generally longitudinally of said body member andprotruding radially outwardly from the portion of the body memberdefining said bead, each of said ribs having a generally arcuateconfiguration along a plane extending longitudinally and radially of thebody member and longitudinally bisecting each of said ribs, said ribsbeing totally included within the bead indentation.